Istanbul group to host Sukuk forum

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Attracting investors from Islamic Middle Eastern countries is a part of the government’s broader plan to turn Istanbul into a regional finance hub.

The Sukuk Working Group will host the Sukuk Forum to present to the world its strategies and practices for the $30 billion sukuk issue technical infrastructure along with discussing steps Turkey needs to make in order to take full advantage of its sukuk potential.

The Forum will be hosted at the Istanbul Maslak Sheraton Hotel on Nov. 22 and 23.

Gulf Turk Capital had sponsored the first working group, held on Oct. 18 and attended by organizations interested in sukuk issues, members of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (İMKB), global consulting and auditing firms, tax specialists, credit ratings agencies, international lawyers, bankers, Gulf investors and securities firms as well as academicians and financial employees.

Turkey a new player

A sukuk is an Islamic bond that complies with shariah and its investment principles which prohibit the charging or paying of interest. Turkey is a new player in the sukuk market.

The Undersecretariat of the Treasury raised 1.6 billion Turkish Liras in a lira-denominated sovereign sukuk issuance at the start of this month before a debut issuance of $1.5 billion through a dollar-denominated sukuk in September. The second issuance came as a success as the government diversifies its sources of financing by tapping into the global Islamic bond market.

Participation banks in the country, which claim interest rate-free banking operations, welcome the government’s sukuk move.

The volume of the global sukuk market is estimated at around $100 billion.